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Applixware

Applixware is a suite of modular applications originally created by Applix, Inc. and now sold by Vistasource, Inc.

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Jun 5, 2026
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Applixware is a suite of modular applications originally created by Applix, Inc. and now sold by Vistasource, Inc.

Alis

Alis office automation source ↗

Applix's first office suite, introduced in 1986, was called Alis, which was available for Unix workstations from Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), Sun Microsystems and others.12 In addition to providing a graphical office suite environment with a number of modules including graphics editor and word processing functions, very advanced for the time, Alis was distinguished by a very powerful scripting language called "ELF" (Extended Language Facility), which was capable of, for example, reading spreadsheet data, performing calculations on it, and merging results into text documents.3

Alis was marketed with promotional items themed around Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. One such was a mug depicting the tea party scene from the book, with a Cheshire Cat that disappeared when the mug was filled with a hot beverage.4

Aster*x and Applixware

Applixware's next major project in 1991 was called Aster*x,5 but was renamed to Applixware in 1993. During the mid-1990s, Applixware was one of a small number of WYSIWYG word processors available for Unix systems.65 Competitors included products from Island Software and proprietary software from the manufacturers of Unix workstations.7

In the late 1990s, Linux began to emerge as a desktop operating system, and Applixware was ported to Red Hat Linux, becoming the first graphical office suite for the platform.8 Sales expanded to the point where Applixware was available across the USA as shrink-wrapped software on retail shelves at stores like CompUSA and Micro Center.9

In 1999, Sun Microsystems bought a competing product, StarOffice, and turned it into the open source OpenOffice software suite. The release of StarOffice hurt the market for competing software, and Applixware sales declined.1011

After OpenOffice

Applix Inc. began to seek other software markets, leveraging the power of their scripting engine and flexible architecture to expand into business intelligence software markets such as OLAP. Applixware is often used in the industrial world as a means of developing large scale Unix and Linux applications, and gluing together other applications.11

The Applixware unit of the company was renamed Vistasource, Inc., and sold to Parallax Capital Partners in 2001.1112

Vistasource now offers a freely available limited version for home users on Linux.11

References

References

  1. Adams, Jane Meredith (November 13, 1985). "Calif. firm selects Applix for software". The Boston Globe. p. 74 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. Burgard, Michael J. (August 21, 1989). "Through a glass darkly: Alis is powerful but difficult". Government Computer News. Vol. 8, no. 17. 1105 Media. pp. 50 et seq. – via Gale.
  3. Sullivan, Kristina B. (May 14, 1990). "Programming key in integrated packages". PC Week. Vol. 7, no. 19. Ziff-Davis. p. 117 – via Gale.
  4. Lovett, Charles C.; Stephanie Lovett Stoffel (1990). Lewis Carroll's Alice: An Annotated Checklist of the Lovett Collection. Meckler. p. 487. ISBN 9780887361661 – via Google Books.
  5. Miller, David B. (February 1992). "Another * for the record books: Applix' Aster*x puts technology to practical use". HP Professional. Vol. 6, no. 2. 1105 Media. p. 22 – via Gale.
  6. Foley, Mary Jo (September 20, 1993). "Applix rechristens Unix suite". PC Week. Vol. 10, no. 37. Ziff-Davis. p. 44 – via Gale.
  7. Bauer, Claude J. (November 21, 1994). "Unix for the office". Government Computer News. Vol. 13, no. 25. 1105 Media. pp. 59 et seq. – via Gale.
  8. Pertreley, Nicholas (August 5, 1996). "Red Hat's Applixware 4.2 gives a big boost to Linux on the desktop". InfoWorld. Vol. 18, no. 32. IDG Publications. p. 83 – via Google Books.
  9. Powell, Dennis E. (2000). Practical KDE. Que. p. 577. ISBN 9780789722164 – via Google Books.
  10. Shankland, Stephen (April 25, 2000). "Linux company plans spinoff to rival Microsoft, Sun". CNET. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023.
  11. Byfield, Bruce (April 26, 2006). "Last look: ApplixWare". Linux.com. The Linux Foundation. Archived from the original on December 5, 2022.
  12. Staff writer (March 26, 2001). "Whoops, There Goes Another One: Applix Sells Off Its Linux Unit". Client Server News. G2 – via Gale.
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